Describes a process undertaken by small, rural libraries in Massachusetts in which trustees, librarians, and community leaders identified the possible roles of libraries and prioritized needs for individual communities. The results include an emphasis on community standards rather than national, and a list of three basic roles of all libraries.…

Explores the issue of intellectual freedom and the role of the library in the community, and the extent to which community attitudes and values should influence library policy. A specific incident involving a public library exhibit of materials on gay rights in Durham, North Carolina, is described. (CLB)

Presents a model for predicting and shaping the impact of information technologies on libraries and the library role which is based on the effects of computerization in various business applications. The library network at AT&T Bell Laboratories is described as an example of a successful implementation of the model. (CLB)

Summarizes issues raised at the OCLC Conference on the Future of the Public Library, focusing on anticipated trends in technology and the library role. Areas discussed include the use of appropriate technologies, governance, demands for reference services, user fees, and the need for strong library leadership. (CLB)

Discusses the need for interaction between teaching and library faculty to design undergraduate assignments that demand effective library use and research skills. Examples of appropriate assignments are given. (4 references) (CLB)

Discusses the evolving roles of academic librarians as information professionals, and the resulting career development in terms of professional issues, organizational issues, technological concerns, and required competencies. A career path model is presented which delineates primary roles, psychological issues, and strategies for attaining…

The role of the research library and issues in access to increasing quantities of information are discussed, including the problems of cataloging and classifying information and the barriers to access often created by librarians. (MSE)

Examines the relationship between the responsibility of librarians to reject materials that threaten the moral and social values of the community and support for intellectual freedom by the library profession. Criteria that justify the censorship of materials are identified and discussed. (16 references) (CLB)

Discusses the role of the academic library in the support of nontraditional students, and offers several suggestions for effectively reacquainting these students with the library and developing their research skills. (CLB)

Summarizes the arguments for and against fees in public libraries, and discusses whether the fee controversy is one of alternative technical means of securing funding, or of competing visions of the role of the public library. (Author/CLB)

Discusses the decisions involved in the creation of library services in support of the associate degree nursing program at Midland College, such as whether to establish a separate or integrated collection and how to organize the collection. Looks at the philosophy underlying these decisions and the way problems were handled. (DMM)

Educational research textbooks often portray online computer searching as available only from distant database producers, or as something students can do for themselves without assistance from a reference librarian/search intermediary. User education may be needed in this area to correct users' misconceptions. (Author/EM)

Responses to a questionnaire exploring faculty perceptions of academic librarians on campus are analyzed in terms of faculty-librarian contacts, usefulness of librarians, importance of academic subject background, and status. Results indicate that librarians are seen as professionals with a service function rather than as full-fledged academic…

Explores and critiques an information paradigm that is currently being proposed in the library literature, and looks at its potential impact on research and policy issues of major concern to librarians and library educators. (CLB)

Describes an exercise in which journalism students were given living journalists to research and write about. (FL)